


No-Diet Day

by odiko_ptino



Series: Featured Character: Demeter [1]
Category: Greek and Roman Mythology
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-09-20 20:49:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17029779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/odiko_ptino/pseuds/odiko_ptino
Summary: Aphrodite and Aglaia take on body self-confidence with the help of Demeter.





	No-Diet Day

Aphrodite and Aglaia approach Demeter as the older goddess is transferring a lump of soil from a row of sacks, into individual dishes on a table lined with bottles of chemicals.

“Good morning, Demeter!” Aphrodite greets.  

The earth goddess glances over.  “Morning… well, I don’t often see you two over here!  You need more aloe-avocado skincare paste?”

“Yes,” Aphrodite and Aglaia say in unison.

“…But that’s not actually what we came here for,” Aglaia clarifies.

“You see, there’s an international event we’re running – it’s ‘No Diet Day.”

“Oh?”  Demeter looks faintly disapproving.  “You girls… are promoting junk food?”

“No, no, it’s not like that,” Aphrodite says.  She seats herself on a nearby overturned crate.  “It’s more about the obsession with constantly dieting to try to meet some ideal beauty standard.”

“Usually a standard promoted by professional celebrities,” Aglaia sighs. That’s her arena, and she’s finding it difficult to turn the tide.

“Yeah, I saw the Oscars a few years ago,” Demeter says.  “Literally every woman there looked interchangeable to me.”

“You should see the Chrises,” Aglaia mutters.

“That’s what we’re trying to change,” Aphrodite says.  “No-Diet day is only partly about dieting, honestly.  It’s really more about – about accepting your body as beautiful, the way it is.  And appreciating the beauty in others, no matter what their shape or weight.”

“We thought you might want to participate, because part of the message is that you should be eating healthy just to be healthy, rather than trying to be skinny.”

“Well, I appreciate you thinking of me, but I don’t think I could spare the time… it’d have to be in person, since beauty ain’t my domain, and I have all this soil I have to test so I can run it through the simulator to see if the sustainable farming plan will work in this one village I’ve been working on.” She gestures to the table.  “And I don’t know how useful I’d be, anyway. Beauty’s never been anything I cared about.. No offense, Aphy, it’s just that… there was a reason I never bothered with that Golden Apple.”

“None taken.”

Demeter turns to a tablet on the table – of a design not to be found on Earth. This is an Olympus exclusive, jointly created by Hephaestus and Athena.  “I think it’s a great idea, though!  That’s what healthy eating is supposed to be for – your health!  Not for looks.  It’s what I’ve always done… I have the body I have, and it’s good enough for me to do what I want with it.  Confidence takes you the rest of the way.”

She turns back over to look at the younger goddesses, and blinks to see Aglaia holding up a similar device to the one in her own hands – recording Demeter’s impromptu speech.  

“That’s perfect!” Aphrodite exclaims.  “Can we use that in our presentation?”

Demeter laughs.  “Yeah, sure. Good luck with it!”

—————————-

The rest of their day is busy.  They gain a little extra support from Hera and Artemis, in their capacities for the well-being of both young girls and mature women; but most of this show is Aphrodite.  

She makes a physical appearance in many cities across the globe, tying blue ribbons to telephone poles and doorknobs with the name of the event printed on them.  It’s important that she be visible during this – even if she doesn’t interact with anyone, they’ll see her – a short, curvy woman with vitiligo, who nonetheless draws people in.  They feel a pull towards her; an inexorable attraction; a desire to love her.  It’s cheating, a little, because Aphrodite has this ability as the Goddess of Love, while the average short, curvy woman with vitiligo would not.  But she’s doing her part to change people’s views – she knows she’s beautiful, and if they make the association in their minds, it will be easier in the future to accept the concept that diversity is beautiful.

Aglaia inspires celebrities to use their public platforms to discuss diversity in body types – over the years, she’s been pleased to see a more open discussion of the topic than there ever used to be.  She thinks Beyoncé might be personally be one of the best envoys of the message.

They both bestow blessings on anyone who looks at themselves critically in the mirror that day.

They finish up by going into the metaphysical Space Between Worlds, and broadcast the recordings they’ve made, from interviewing a few of the gods and goddesses:

“A real man loves his woman no matter what she looks like – ”

“Your body is just a vessel for your mind.  Keep it in good shape, but it’s not the most important – ”

“Not everyone needs to be an athlete!  It’s totally fine if you’re happier not running six miles a day – ”

“Frankly, I’ve never seen a body type yet that didn’t have some appeal…”

…. Most of their soundbites, while enthusiastic for diversity, are a little more Problematic than Aphrodite or Aglaia want to use, so they mostly fill in the rest of the time with their own discussion on the matter, then finish strong with Demeter’s input.

“…Confidence takes you the rest of the way.”

“So, in conclusion, healthy is good – for your health.  As for looks, it’s better to be happy with the body you’ve got,” Aphrodite finishes, and hits ‘transmit’ on her tablet, sending the message out into the ether.

It’s metaphysical, here, so no one will actually hear this message as real sound.  But it’ll contribute to the No-Diet Day in a subconscious way.  It’ll reach the minds of the mortals, giving them the idea of body acceptance and beauty in diversity, and hopefully  one of these days it’ll stick.


End file.
